Elevator.



A. E. SUIER.

ELEVATOR APPLICATION FILED NOV. I. 1916.

7; 1917. 2.$HEETS S'HEET I.

Patented Aug.

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Patented Aug. 7, 1917.

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TEL,

AARON E. SUTER, or HARRisoNB 'Ro, VIRGINIA.

ELEVATOR.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Aug. '7, 1917.

Application filed November 1, 1916. Serial No. 128,982.

To all whom ii may concern:

Be it known that I, AARON E. some, a citizen of the United States, residing at Harrisonburg, in the county of Rockingham and State of Virginia, have invented new and useful Improvements in Elevators, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to elevators and has particular reference to a door operating means therefor.

It is the principal object of the invention to provide a simple yet highly eflicient means for elevating a door from a landing or floor to an opened position as the elevator rises, the invention providing for the raising or opening of any one of the doors at any particular floor of the building, independently of the other doors.

The nature and advantages of the invention will be better understood when the following description is read in connection with the accompanying drawings, the invention residing in the construction, combination and arrangement of parts as claimed.

In the drawings forming part of this specification like numerals of reference indicate similar parts in the several views and wherein Figure l is a side elevation partly in section.

Fig. 2 is a detail perspective view showing one of the adjusted positions of the door.

Fig. 3 is a side elevation partly in section looking from the side opposite the side of the device disclosed in Fig. 1.

Fig. 4 is a detail elevation showing the normal position of the door.

Fig. 5 is a horizontal sectional view, one of the pinions being shown in dotted lines to show the staggered relation of the pinions.

Fig. 6 is a detail view of the trip lever.

Fig. 7 is a similar view of the rack bar.

Referring more particularly to the drawings in detail, the elevator cage is indicated at A and is arranged to operate within the frame B constituting the elevator shaft. The cage A is operated in the ordinary well known manner, the controlling line being indicated at 10. The frame or shaft B is provided with door openings 12 at each floor or landing, a door 13 normally closing each of these openings. Doors may be provided at the front of the shaft only, or they may be provided at the front and rear as illustrated in the drawings. In either instance the doors 13 are provided with laterally projecting corner extensions 14 arranged to slide in suitable guides 15 secured to the frame B at opposite sides of each door opening, and which guides are preferably channel-shaped or of U-shaped formation in cross section. The doors are elevated to opened position in the manner to be hereinafter fully described, and gravitate to their normal or closed position. It will be noted that the guides 15 are provided with alined cut away portions 16 to permit the lower corner extensions 15 to be moved from within the guides 15 through the openings 16 when it is desired to swing the door upwardly, at which time the upper corner extensions 15 serve as pivots for the door. The swinging of the door upwardly is only necessary when removing from the cage or elevator A an article of greater height than the distance between the lower edge of the door and the floor, with the door in its full opened position.

Projecting laterally from one side of the frame B are spaced parallel stub shafts 17 and 18 respectively, these shafts being arranged immediately adjacent each fioor o1- landing of the building. The shafts have fixed thereon pulleys 19 over which is trained a belt 20 so that both of the shafts rotate in unison. The shaft 17 of the pair of shafts has fixed thereon a pinion 21 adapted to mesh with a rack bar 22'carried by the cage A, for the purpose of rotating the shaft 17 at a predetermined interval during the rise of the cage A. Fixed upon the shaft 18 is a large grooved wheel 23 with which one terminal of a flexible element 24 is connected, the opposite terminal of this element being secured to one of the doors 13. If two doors are employed at each landing or floor. as illustrated in the drawings, two of these flexible elements 24 are used, one for each door, and in which instance the terminals of the flexible elements are connected to the grooved wheel 23 at diametrically opposite points. The flexible elements 2 1 are trained over pulleys 25 arranged within the guides 15 and at suitable points on the frame B. It will be noted that the pinions 21 for the different floors are disposed in staggered relation, while the rack bar 22 is mounted upon the cage A for lateral adjustment. The purpose of this particular arrangement is that it provides a means whereby the door or doors at any particular floor or landing can be opened during the rise of the cage A, independently of the doors at the other landings, by simply adjusting the rack bar 22 in any suitable manner, preferably by means of a handle 22 projecting from the rack bar, to mesh with the pinion 21 of the particular door or doors to be opened. The pinions 21 are interrupted as at 26 so that when the interrupted portion of the particular pinion being operated, is brought into confronting relation with the rack bar 22, thus separating these parts, the door through its own weight gravitates to its normal or closed position, while the elevator or cage A may continue to travel in the desired direction.

In practice the elevator is started upwardly by pulling downwardly on the controlling line 10, and if it is desired to stop at the second floor, the ad: bar 22 is art justed to engage the pinion 21 forming part of the door operating mechanism of the door or doors of that particular floor. Prior to the bringing of the cage or elevator A to a stop, the rack bar meshing with the pinion 21 rotates the shaft 17 and by reason of the belt and pulley connection between this shaft and the shaft 18, the latter together with the grooved wheel 23 is also rotated. During the rotation of these parts the flexible elements or cables 21 are wound about the wheel in a manner to elevate the door or doors 13, which latter are arranged to slide within the guides 15. When the pin ion 21 is rotated a sufficient distance to bring the interrupted portion 26 thereof in confronting relation with the rack bar, but spaced from the latter, the door or doors are free to gravitate to a normal or closed position.

A trip lever 27 is loosely mounted upon the shaft 17 by means of a slotted clamp or bearing 28, while projecting from the shaft 17 is a lug 29 adapted to rotate within the slot 30 of the clamp 28 so that when the lug is brought into engagement with one end of the slot the lever 27 is actuated. The forward extremity of the leveris looped about the controlling line 10 to engage a knot 31 therein when the lever is moved by means of the lug 29 to an active position. lVhen the looped extremity of the lever is brought into engagement with the knot 31 of the controlling line a pull is exerted upon the line in the proper direction to cause the elevator to stop at the desired floor or landing. It is of course understood that the lever 27 is operated only when the shaft 17 is rotated, and that the latter is rotated Copies of this patent may be obtained for 'mechanism at the particular five cents each,

only when the rack bar 22 is adjusted to engage the pinion of the door operating floor at which it is desired to stop the elevator or cage A. The mechanism in its entirety is extremely simple in construction, yet very efficient for the purpose intended, and while I have shown and described what is considered the preferred form of the invention, I desire to have it understood that I do not limit myself to the exact construction and arrangement of parts as illustrated, and that such changes may be resorted to when de sired as fall within the scope of what is claimed.

lVhat is claimed is 1. The combination with an elevator cage, a shaft therefor having a sliding door at the landing, and a controlling line, of a rack bar carried by the cage, a shaft, a pinion fixed on said shaft to mesh with said rack bar for rotating said shaft, a connection between the shaft and said door for elevating the latter with the rise of the cage, and a trip lever for said line, said lever being mounted upon the shaft and operable witn the rotation of the latter.

2. The combination with an elevator cage and shaft therefor having a sliding door at the landing, and a controlling rack bar carried by the cage, a shaft, a pin ion fixed upon said shaft to mesh with said rack bar for rotating said shaft, a connection between the shaft and said door for elevating the latter with the rise of the cage, a trip lever for said line, a slotted clamp loosely associating the lever with said shaft, and a lug projecting from the shaft through said slot of the clamp and adapted to engage one end thereof for operating the lever with the rotation of said shaft.

3. The combination with an elevator cage and shaft therefor having a sliding door at the landing, of a pair of spaced shafts, belt and pulley connection between said shafts, a pinion carried by one of said shafts, a grooved wheel carried by the other of said shafts, a flexible element having one terminal connected to said door and its opposite terminal secured to said wheel to elevate the door upon rotation of the latter, and a rack bar carried by the cage to mesh with said pinion for rotating said shafts and said wheel with the rise of said cage.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature.

AARON E. SUTER.

by addressing the Commissioner of Patents.

Washington, D. 0.

line, of a 

